The present invention generally relates to a thin wall van type semitrailer and similar cargo vehicles and containers. The invention particularly relates to a novel vehicle construction employing a multiplicity of thin composite panels having improved strength to weight ratios over prior art materials.
In recent years a new "high cube" type semitrailer has been introduced into the market place identified as a "plate wall" trailer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,405 teaches a plate wall trailer having unitary aluminum alloy plate side walls extending along the entire length of the trailer. Such a design is difficult to construct because of the large cumbersome aluminum plate sides. Further, field repair of such unitary plate wall sides is similarly difficult and generally requires welding which affects the material strength in the heat affected zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,721 in an attempt to overcome the disadvantages of the unitary aluminum plate wall design teaches a trailer body construction having a plurality of aluminum plate panels joined together by a series of relatively flat external posts thereby eliminating the cumbersome unitary aluminum plate wall as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,405, however the weight penalty of using aluminum plate has not been eliminated.